RE: <nettime> publication of "Jyllands-Posten" cartoons is not "freedom of thepress"

["Ayhan Aytes" <aaytes@weber.ucsd.edu>]

There are three issues that need to be addressed when discussing this
matter which is generally neglected

1. Christians criticizing Christianity is one thing, Christians
criticizing, Jews, Muslims, Gypsies is another. Europe had learnt that
with one of the hardest lessons of the history. 

2. The representation code is differ rent in different religions and
imposing the codes of Christian iconography over other cultures is a
violence that is an extension of Orientalist motives. 

3. Larger context. Denmark is one of members of the holly alliance that
is currently invading Iraq. If this caricature had published somewhere
else its effect would have been different.

So, let's drop this freedom of speech pedantry and try to look closely
what is really happening. Our concepts of discussion should be based on
the examples of Nazi era caricatures that represents Jews, which also
could be discussed under the terms of freedom of speech, but we don't do
that. Because freedom in democratic countries is not the freedom of the
powerful to oppress the weak. The meaning of democracy is to give the
weak a voice and secure it in every condition. In Denmark the freedom of
minority is being oppressed with this example. 

Ayhan Aytes


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